Thought Central

Rankings explored

2007-09-11T21:47:00.001-06:00

I just listened to a great little podcast discussing the rankings and the fact that some of the polls moved LSU up above USC this week, while USC was idle. You can listen to it here. The gist of the message was there are no rules against voting a team down or voting another team above an idle team. The polls are based on the performance of the teams that week. I couldn't agree more. He also made a point of discussing further rationale behind LSU and OU positions in the polls thus far. I also like that he noticed the lackluster performance against Idaho in their only game so far. I still say USC is highly overrated.

I recall now a conversation I had at work a few days ago. Someone made the point that the preseason rankings give an unfair advantage to the top 2 teams. As long as they win their games they probably won't be voted down and could get the NC spot over other worthy teams that also win their games. I think it is a valid point. The suggestion was made to wait a month or so and then vote based on the performance of the teams at that point. I should point out that is what happens with the BCS poll. You will notice it doesn't come out until mid October. That gives time for most teams to play at least five games, some six. That's about half of their regular season schedule and is probably a good starting point for examining their performance up to that point. Of course this same person also discussed the option of a playoff. I think this has been mentioned more times by more fans than I dare estimate. From what we gathered, the reasoning has something to do with the class schedules of the student athletes involved, including finals week which typically falls after the conference championship games. The bowl games don't start until later in December which gives some time to recuperate. I think we also decided the bowl games make too much money and they wouldn't want to give them up. The idea we came up with was to use the lesser bowl games as rounds in the playoffs. Then you could have the BCS bowls as the semifinals or equivalent and then rotate which of the main bowl games will hold the final championship game. I think this might be a workable solution, but would obviously involve some major hierarchical changes and a few hurt feelings. I really doubt this will happen, but it's interesting to contemplate it.

The first poll I will show is the Scout.com/CollegeFootballNews.com 119. I highly recommend actually going to the site to check out their descriptions for each team. They give a reason why their ranking should be higher and why it should be lower. This week, their reason for OU being lower was

"The Ranking Should Be Lower Because ... it shouldn’t be. There’s no reasonable argument against OU being No. 1 right now."

I agree of course, but it's nice to see some others noticing what I'm seeing. Here's the top 10 of this poll:

1. LSU (2-0)
2. Oklahoma (2-0)
3. USC (1-0)
4. Florida (2-0)
5. Georgia Tech (2-0)
6. Wisconsin (2-0)
7. Texas (2-0)
8. Nebraska (2-0)
9. West Virginia (2-0)
10. Penn State (2-0)

Next we have the AP poll. I went here to check it and here also. This is the top 10 of this poll:

1. USC (40) 1-0 1,594
2. LSU (25) 2-0 1,582
3. Oklahoma 2-0 1,418
4. West Virginia 2-0 1,408
5. Florida 2-0 1,370
6. Texas 2-0 1,290
7. Wisconsin 2-0 1,171
8. California 2-0 1,126
9. Louisville 2-0 1,097
10. Ohio State 2-0 962

Next we have the USA Today/Coaches poll. I viewed it here and here. This is the top 10 of this poll:
1. USC (42) 1-0 1,476
2. LSU (11) 2-0 1,437
3. Florida (7) 2-0 1,353
4. West Virginia 2-0 1,269
5. Oklahoma 2-0 1,264
6. Texas 2-0 1,156
7. Wisconsin 2-0 1,141
8. California 2-0 1,038
9. Louisville 2-0 1,020
10. Ohio State 2-0 972

I believe this is the one with the lowest ranking of OU that I have come across. I have a feeling that may change in a few weeks. I can be patient ;)

Next we have the CBSSports.com 120. It can be found here. This is the top 10 of this poll:
1. Southern California
2. LSU
3. Oklahoma
4. Florida
5. West Virginia
6. Wisconsin
7. California
8. Louisville
9. Texas
10. Ohio State

Next we have ESPN.com's Power 16. It can be found here and here. This is the top 10 of this poll:

1. LSU (10) 2-0
2. USC (5) 1-0
3. Oklahoma 2-0
4. Florida (1) 2-0
4. West Virginia 2-0
6. California 2-0
7. Texas 2-0
8. Penn State 2-0
9. Louisville 2-0
10. UCLA 2-0

That's right, this is the poll the podcast was talking about. If you go here you can read more of a description behind the voting.

Finally we have the ESPNU Allstate Standings (Fan poll). This surprised me a little, but not too much I guess. It can be found here. Here's their top 10:

1. LSU 2-0
2. USC 1-0
3. Oklahoma 2-0
4. Florida 2-0
5. West Virginia 2-0
6. Texas 2-0
7. California 2-0
8. Wisconsin 2-0
9. Louisville 2-0
10. Ohio State 2-0

If you go to that link you can also vote (down at the bottom, click on vote now) and let your vote be counted.

I didn't include the Congrove computer rankings this time because they weren't updated yet at the time of this posting. I may toss them in as well if I notice they update them. I can't promise anything though. If you want to keep tabs on this poll, you can check it here.

Another nice Big 12 showing

2007-09-10T23:59:00.001-06:00

We did it again. No I don't mean just the Sooners, although they did it quite well. More on that in a bit. I mean the Big 12. Another 10 wins out of 12 teams playing. We still have 2 teams in the top 10 with Nebraska knocking on it's door. Texas is still on the downslide, but OU has bumped up again in just about every poll. There has been some other movement in some of the polls. I may throw in another poll summary, or save that for a separate post.

On to the Sooners. I was again impressed by Bradford's poise and composure against a tougher opponent. Malcolm Kelley still looks awesome and helped Bradford complete for 5 TD's, three of them himself. Iglesias and Murray looked pretty good. Patrick was back and looking very healthy. He made some great plays, but overall it didn't seem like he was a big difference maker in the game. Chris Brown was back as well and while he looked good, also didn't seem to be a game changer. After reviewing the stats I can see where I got this idea. Patrick and Brown were the 2nd and 3rd leading rushers for the game, behind Murray. There were no rushing TDs though. Either passing TDs or the FG by Hartley. Even Halzle got a TD. It's nice to have a good backup QB. Special teams were overall pretty good, but a couple of really bad plays cost some points. Fortunately, the defense was outstanding and minimized the damage done. They were all over the Miami offense and held the two leading Miami rushers to 52 yards compared to 215 combined in the previous game. I am so impressed by the way the defense has been stepping up their game this season. I recall this time last season they were really struggling. Not anymore. I don't see them being tested for the next couple of games, but I hope they keep the focus and intensity they will need when the in conference gauntlet begins.

I didn't get to see any of the other games since I was drilling this weekend. I was fortunate to have taped the OU game so I got to enjoy that one. I would like to point out that of the 10 wins our conference had, 7 of them were by at least 2 TDs. I think that's pretty good. Kansas and OSU looked really good. Baylor made up for last weeks rout by dominating Rice. Texas did okay against a ranked TCU team. K State, Texas Tech, and Missouri all looked pretty good in their games. I hope to see more wins for everyone next week. Let's keep dominating like we should.

Oh I almost forgot, we set a new attendance record with 85,357. I doubt there will be any open seats the rest of the season at least. That is a general trend around here. Memorial Stadium is usually full.

Oklahoma Faces Challenge Saturday

2007-09-05T08:53:00.000-06:00

There's been plenty of talk about how OU's game against North Texas is nice and all but doesn't mean much compared to a tougher team. While I agree it is not the same, I think the intensity and focus they showed throughout the game will serve them well against Miami also. They could have easily been blindly looking ahead to the Miami game and that would have distracted them. The same could be said during the Miami game although Utah State is not likely to be as tough to handle. The whole adage of taking it one week at a time seems to be playing out. If they can maintain that level of focus the rest of the season, who knows where they will end up?

Coach Stoops felt the same way:

"We've had some games where we've had lopsided wins, we've gotten ahead in the second half, and the second half gives me nightmares," Stoops said. "I go home just totally aggravated, because guys get in late, lose their focus (and) have penalties. Their intensity wanes a little and you break down in coverage or you miss an adjustment."
Against North Texas, "we didn't have that. To me, it's just reflective of how these guys have been. What I keep saying about them is they have a really great focus to them."

The Sooners are really looking forward to this Saturday and Coach Stoops says the players "realize it's a challenge. I'm sure it's the same for Miami. It's challenging, and anytime it is, it's awfully exciting, too." I agree. I just wish I could watch it live this Saturday. I will be taping it so no worries.

The OU coach had little to complain about with the North Texas game and had some positive comments about the play.

"I was pleased with the overall clean and solid play, really in all parts of our game," Stoops said. "Offensively, everyone wondered how Sam Bradford would handle the situation, regardless of who you're playing going out in your first game, I thought (it) was just remarkable how cool, calm and collected he was and how he executed," Stoops said.
"He was excellent in the huddle (and) at the line of scrimmage. I can think back several years, having new quarterbacks and they're having two, three fumbled snaps. A lot of things can go wrong, but he just executed in a wonderful way."
"Defensively, I thought our structure and positioning on the ball and tackling was very sharp," Stoops said, noting that hasn't always been the case in early season games in other years. Mistakes "have happened in a lot of other games, but it didn't happen the other night."

Some quotes from Miami coach Randy Shannon:

"This week, we play Oklahoma and they are a great team. They have a lot of good players on their team. I know their coaching staff personally. They do a good job of getting their players ready for any opponent. I think that it will be a challenge for us to go out there and play, but I have confidence in what we're doing today. It is a televised game so there will be a lot of emotion, but it's just an opportunity for both teams to go out there and compete. At the end of the day, the best team is going to win the game."
"There's a reason that Oklahoma is ranked high. They have a big defensive line, a big offensive line and they play great offense. It will be a challenge for us to go out there, because we are playing a great defense. Our offense is doing good. We were able to rush the ball for 260 yards and that is something that we are going to continuously try to do. If we can go into Oklahoma and rush the ball for 260 yards, we will win the game. We have to go and get that done."

Sorry coach, the stats on ESPN say you only rushed for 251(a little picky I know ;)). In addition, OU held North Texas to only 15 yards rushing, while rushing for 265 yards themselves. I realize that is North Texas and all, but we'll have to see how that turns out. A more telling result might be the 337 total yards by Miami compared to the 668 total yards by OU. After checking the rankings it appears that Marshall was ranked a little higher than North Texas. I don't know if that will make up the difference for Miami or not. In either case, we are assured of a good game this Saturday.

It appears that Allen Patrick and Chris Brown will be back for the Miami game so that should make for some great option plays for Bradford. I am looking forward to it.

Some of the material here is from this article on SoonerSports.com, while some is from this one.

Results are in for week one

2007-09-04T23:10:00.000-06:00

Here's the top 10 for several polls:

AP:

1. USC (59) 1-0 1,619
2. LSU (5) 1-0 1,542
3. West Virginia (1) 1-0 1,449
4. Florida 1-0 1,346
5. Oklahoma 1-0 1,275
5. Wisconsin 1-0 1,275
7. Texas 1-0 1,221
8. Louisville 1-0 1,152
9. Virginia Tech 1-0 1,085
10. California 1-0 1,080

USA Today (Coaches):

1. USC (49) 1-0 1,486
2. LSU (4) 1-0 1,417
3. Florida (7) 1-0 1,341
4. West Virginia 1-0 1,275
5. Wisconsin 1-0 1,183
6. Oklahoma 1-0 1,146
7. Texas 1-0 1,136
8. Louisville 1-0 995
9. Virginia Tech 1-0 988
10. California 1-0 985

CBSSports.com 120:

1 Southern California
2 LSU
3 West Virginia
4 Wisconsin
5 Florida
6 Louisville
7 California
8 Texas
9 Virginia Tech
10 Oklahoma

College Football News 119:

There's one very important distinction in the CFN rankings: these are based on how good the teams are and NOT how they're going to finish. Some teams have easier schedules than others, some get tougher road games and some will need a little bit of time to jell meaning they might be better than their final record might indicate.

1. USC (1-0)
2. LSU (1-0)
3. Oklahoma (1-0)
4. Wisconsin (1-0)
5. California (1-0)
6. Texas (1-0)
7. Georgia Tech (1-0)
8. Florida (1-0)
9. Louisville (1-0)
10. Nebraska (1-0)

Congrove Computer rankings:

1 Southern California
2 Louisiana State
3 Oklahoma
4 Louisville
5 West Virginia
6 Texas
7 UCLA
8 Wisconsin
9 Florida
10 California

ESPN.com's Power 16:
1. USC (15) 1-0
2. LSU 1-0
3. West Virginia 1-0
4. Oklahoma 1-0
5. Florida (1) 1-0
6. California 1-0
7. Louisville 1-0
8. Wisconsin 1-0
9. Texas 1-0
10. Georgia 1-0

ESPNU Allstate Standings (Fan poll)

1. USC 1-0

2. LSU 1-0

3. West Virginia 1-0

4. Florida 1-0

5. California 1-0

6. Oklahoma 1-0

7. Wisconsin 1-0

8. Louisville 1-0

9. Texas 1-0

10. Virginia Tech 1-0

So it appears for the most part that OU moved up and Texas moved down. In most OU is either 5 or 6 which I think is a great spot to be in for now. Others have us at #3 and one has us at #10. I think it's safe to say we are probably more around the 4 or 5 spot in reality. The Miami game will tell a lot more. I can't wait to see how we do.

Super Saturday Aftermath

2007-09-02T21:03:00.000-06:00

Where to begin? I might as well start with the Sooners. Bradford and Murray looked great. So did Iglesias and Kelly. I think if the new guys can be consistent like they were this time for the rest of the season, they will be very tough to compete with. It doesn't hurt having as deep a roster as we do. A force to be reckoned with? I think so.

I am starting to see the wisdom of the Congrove rankings showing OU at #3. I will have to post again once the AP and Coaches polls get updated. I can see Texas dropping and maybe even USC. I would also expect to see OU bump up and Michigan will definitely drop.

Some will say that North Texas rolled over and they weren't much competition. Whether that's true or not, the performance by our new guys was unquestionably excellent. Especially for their first time out. I am used to seeing a lot more unforced errors and sloppy play in the first couple of games. For them to come out and play this well right out of the chute is truly remarkable.

At the same time, I noticed that Idaho was on a similar level ranking at least. Admittedly, I didn't get to see much of the game, but based on the bits I saw and the outcome I was not overly impressed by USC. Obviously I am biased though.

Texas struggled with a seemingly lightweight opponent as well. I was even less impressed by their performance, but I didn't see any of the game so hard to say much about that.

I did get to watch the Colorado game and thought they did well considering the rivalry factor. I don't think either team was particularly strong, but I enjoyed the game and thought Colorado was at least coached better than Colorado State.

Missouri struggled a bit against Illinois, especially in the second half. I didn't see much of that part of the game. They looked pretty good in the first half for the parts I saw. It looks like Illinois made a strong push at the end but Mizzou was able to rein it in just enough to come out ahead in the end.

Nebraska looked confident and only got stronger in the second half. Nevada scored a bit late in the first half but were shutout after that. I did see a good bit of this game as well and thought they were executing fairly well on most of the plays but made some mistakes that would cost them against a tougher opponent. Overall a great performance by Nebraska though.

Kansas looked good against Central Michigan. I didn't see the game itself, but it looks like they were able to control the ball well for the majority of the game, only allowing a few late points in the final quarter of the game. Again I didn't see the game so I can't say much about their performance but I think the score speaks of a good first outing.

A&M looked okay against Montana St. It looks like the defense was struggling a bit at first but then pulled it together and no further points scored by Montana St. I did notice that Montana State has had some troubles lately and apparently a new coach so they will likely struggle this season. In spite of the score, the Aggies passing game was not as good as the Bobcats. The running game was all A&M however. If their defense can stop the passing game a bit better they will be ok.

K State made a valiant effort against a ranked Auburn team. The Wildcats were doing quite well through the first half and most of the 3rd quarter. It's not quite clear what happened then, but Auburn apparently pulled their act together a bit and managed to start a scoring momentum that managed to save them in the end. I was very impressed by the Kansas State performance and think Auburn will have to make some corrections to stay in the top 25 although they should have a little time before facing some tougher opponents mid season. I think if K State can be more consistent through the whole game they will do well this season.

OSU looked pretty good at first but seemed to falter and fizzle at the end of the first half. They never got back into the game after that. Georgia is a ranked team and while they struggled a bit at first, they seemed to take control for the rest of the game. The cowboys will have to step it up a bit, especially when they start playing in conference games if they hope to salvage the season.

I didn't see the Baylor game, but it looks like they were completely outmatched by a superior TCU team. While it appears it was more of a defensive battle the score might let on, TCU's defense was clearly in charge of the game, holding the Bears to only 52 rushing yards. They also forced 4 turnovers which obviously cost Baylor the game.

I suppose I could mention Iowa State's loss to Kent State, but I didn't see that game either. It wasn't a rout, but the Cyclones clearly have some improvements to make before playing in conference.

I should point out that 7 of the 10 Big 12 teams that played Saturday won their games, some quite decisively. If we throw in the early game that drops to 7 out of 11, but Texas Tech hasn't played yet. If I think of it I may update this after their game. Either way, I think that is a good starting effort and hope that we continue to do well this season. It can only help us having a strong conference.

Update:
Now that Texas Tech has beaten SMU soundly I can say that we have 8 of 12 teams playing so far with wins. I think that's pretty good, don't you?

The Red Raiders actually looked really good. They got off to a bit of a slow start, but from then on they were very consistent, scoring 7 points in the 1st quarter and then 14 in each of the rest. SMU only scored 3 FG's, 2 in the first half and one in the 2nd. The Tech defense just wouldn't let up.

In addition to the 8 wins from 12 teams, 5 of those eight wins were dominant (30+ point spread). I think that sounds like a strong showing to me. Of course OU looked the best of any of the teams this weekend so the rest have some catching up to do. If the Sooners can bring the consistency and make minor improvements here and there, they will be very hard to catch.

Preseason outlook

2007-08-31T22:59:00.000-06:00

In preparation for the first game of the season this Saturday, I did some looking around to see what I could find in the way of rankings and predictions. I was pleasantly surprised to find a pretty decent amount of coverage and some very thorough analysis in at least one example.

To give an overall ranking idea, I looked here and found OU at #7 which is a pretty good spot. They also have a short rundown of strengths and weaknesses of all the teams and ranks them all the way to 119. Nice site. Continuing for comparison purposes, I looked here and found three polls of interest. The AP, Coaches, and the CBSSports.com 120. All but the last one have OU at #8, with the last one putting OU at #10. I tend to put a bit more stock in the first two than the last one, but being in the top 10 is fine by me. One odd thing I noticed here is if you look at the Oklahoma team report it shows us at #10 on the Coaches poll also, but on the poll itself we are at #8. I'm guessing it was a glitch, but hard to say which is correct.

Then I looked here and found a bit of a surprise. The Congrove computer ratings have OU at #3 with Texas at #4. I realize that is only 4 spots above the highest rank so far, but in the top 10 that is a pretty big jump. Judging by the other information on that site, it looks like the analysis is extremely thorough and pretty accurate based on past performance. They have a historical portion where you can see all the past rankings and how they stack up. Take a look at the progression from '93 to the present here. As far as predictions go, they have a rather complete and thorough preview of how they think the season will play out here. They have USC vs. LSU for the championship and pick OU to play Louisiana in the Fiesta Bowl. Not a bad way to finish up, but having just played in the Fiesta Bowl last season I would hope for a bit more. Besides, though there was no shame in losing to an undefeated team last season, it still left a bad taste in my mouth :(

If you want to get down to specifics, they have a Big 12 preview as well here. They pick OU to win the South and Nebraska to win the North, with OU winning the conference. I could definitely see it going down the way they predict it. The interesting thing though is the way they show it. They actually show individual breakdowns of wins and losses for each team. If you click on a particular team, it goes further and shows the schedule and prediction down to fractional point spreads for each game. Impressive to say the least. For example, they have OU going undefeated with the closest spread on the OU vs. Texas game. The upcoming game against North Texas has a spread of 37.33 points. I guess we'll find out later today whether they know what they are talking about or not.

Personally, I would like to see a closer game than that. Not because I think North Texas is that good, but because I don't want our guys getting too cocky with Miami coming up right after. Even though most of the polls show Miami ranked pretty low, I think that is going to be a very challenging game for the Sooners. Miami is still a solid program and our new guys will still be working out the kinks a bit in only the second game of the season. I would prefer to work out the issues during this first game so they are ready to go for Miami and the rest after. Of course if they don't put up enough points that could hurt the ranking a bit. That won't matter as much at first, but when the first BCS poll comes out in October, I would prefer to be sitting strongly in the good.

All in all, I'm feeling pretty good about where we stand at this point in the season. I'll try to remember to post a follow up of sorts when the game is over.

Bradford named Sooners' starter

2007-08-21T18:37:00.000-06:00

According to this article, Coach Stoops says Bradford has "earned the position". His performance certainly stands out from his fellow QBs. 12 of 17 passes for 130 yards and 4 TDs is nothing to be ashamed of.

I hadn't realized how tall he is, although I don't suppose he is extraordinarily tall compared to some other players. 6'5" and 213 lbs are his stats.

He is only 19. Coincidentally, he threw 19 TDs at PC North in his senior season. He also threw for 2,422 yards that same season.

Apparently his dad also played for the Sooners back in the 70's. I'm sure he will be proud to have his son play for them as well.

None of the three candidates has much experience but the nice thing is they have plenty of time to grow and mature. I see good things for this season and even better for the future.

I am really looking forward to the first game and the rest of the season coming soon :D

Patrick to miss scrimmage with foot injury

2007-08-21T18:36:00.000-06:00

I remember them mentioning this on the news recently and found this article covering it as well.

It is unfortunate to see these injuries in the preseason, but they do seem to be fairly minor so far. I heard that Patrick would probably be back for the 1st game, but even if he is not, I would imagine he would be back for the Miami game. I guess we will have to wait and see on this one. Let's hope for fewer injuries than last season and a strong healthy team all season :)

Stuck in Chicago

2007-06-04T07:34:00.000-06:00

I had a bad feeling when after checking in at the OKC airport I was told by the attendant who was supposed to tag my bags that I would not be able to catch my connecting flight to NYC because the flight I was taking to get there was delayed. Great I thought, just what I need since I was already supposed to get into NYC after 9pm local time as it was. Come to find out they put me on standby for a flight leaving about the time I should have been arriving in NYC. That flight would not get into NYC until close to midnight. Oh well, I can still get a little sleep before going in on Monday morning to class. Scratch that, not making that flight, time to stand in line for an hour at customer service(not applicable here as far I can tell) only to find out the earliest flight they can confirm me on is leaving Chicago at 4pm but the good news is I can fly standby on flights as early as 6am and they have flights leaving every hour after that so I'm bound to get on one of them(in theory). Oh and here's some hotel information where you can get a discount. A discount? Why should I have to pay for a room so I can wait around for you to get me to my planned destination as we agreed when my flight was booked. No thanks I'll stay here at the airport so I can be sure to be here for that first flight and get there as soon as I can.

Oh sorry that one didn't have enough seats for the confirmed passengers because they booked it assuming there were 3 extra rows that weren't there. Really? How does that happen? On the 7am flight, no problem. Well actually we only took one standby passenger(even though I didn't hear them call for anyone for that purpose, but I guess they were being discreet since I am not the only one waiting around. On to the 8am flight then. Well this seems familiar, we only have 1 seat for a standby. Guess what? You guessed it, not me.

I did press for a bit more this time and discovered the wait list they transferred to the 9am flight was about 35 people. I pointed out that at the rate they were going, we would be here until tomorrow. They indicated there may be a better chance on the 9am flight but of course they don't know until all the passengers check in. They also wouldn't tell me what spot I was on the list since the numbers would change. I inquired what the order was based on and apparently it's very complicated and may involve calculus(j/k). They base it off the fare you paid, if you are a mileage plus member(which apparently makes you specialer than others who are waiting ;) ) and potentially other variables but those were the only ones mentioned. They did get my name and seemed to indicate a chance of getting on the next one but of course I won't know until 830am when they close the check in for the 9am flight. And so here I sit.

I'm not normally a pessimistic person but I'm getting the very strong feeling that I will not be getting out of here until 4pm after all. This does bother me a bit. I could have taken the hotel room and had a good night's sleep in a bed and then leisurely strolled about then came back to the airport to check in for the 4pm flight if that was the end result. Instead I slept(very intermittently) about 3 hours l think on a bench in the gate area. Since then I have been waiting patiently to be called and to no avail. I am told my baggage should be put on one of the first available flights and so hopefully is already there or on it's way and will be waiting for me once I get there. I am hopeful that is the case but I was told earlier this morning that there is no way to know from here so I won't know where my bags are for sure until I get to NYC. Great.

I haven't said this yet, but I may reach the point sometime soon, I have been very accommodating for something that was not my fault and I have not felt the same accommodation from this airline(United by the way) as of yet. Stay tuned, I will either post a new post to continue the saga or just edit this one as the story unfolds. Like I told my wife, it's a wonder anyone gets anywhere like this. In case you are wondering, this is not my first flight or even my first flight to this location. I have never had this much trouble in all my years(admittedly not all that many) of flying.

Thanks for listening.

I have failed

2007-06-02T19:59:00.000-06:00

I could feign surprise and indignation at myself for going even longer without posting but I doubt anyone would care. I will say that the last month and a half or so has been even more chaotic and busy than the gap before that. Not that it matters. I certainly found time to post on the CCOT Forum, so I find that a pretty weak excuse. Enough of that.

I am looking forward to visiting NYC tomorrow for a couple of weeks. I will be taking a Computer Networking class at GMATS(Global Maritime and Transportation School). It is a pretty good school as I have been there twice before. I took different classes each time.

I would like to state some goal of posting something once a day while I'm there, but I would hate to disappoint myself. I will say that I will post at least once or twice while I'm there and then anything extra is gravy.

I don't know if any of you are familiar with Sightspeed or not. I just got that and plan to use it to keep in touch with the wife and kid while I'm there. It will be interesting to see how well it works for us.

I plan to see the Statue of Liberty up close while I'm there this time. Last time I only caught it in passing on the Staten Island Ferry. I would also like to catch an on or off Broadway show of some sort. It would be nice to catch one of the TV shows they make there like Letterman or something as well. The only other big tourist thing would be to catch either a Yankees or Mets game. I ended up just missing that last time as well. I did get to see the Red Sox and Yankees play in Fenway Park the first time I was there but only got to see about half the game. Still pretty cool all in all. I might go visit the Met again, I'm sure they have a lot of new stuff since I went the first time.

I guess that will do for now, I just wanted to put something out there and hopefully there will soon be more where this came from.

How Geek are you?

2007-04-09T09:59:00.000-06:00

77% Geek

Thanks IVS!

How the internet got started(video)

2007-04-09T01:11:00.000-06:00

I just came across this post about the video below over at Irritable Vowel Syndrome and I thought it was fascinating and very informative. What I find interesting is this was made in 1998 which was almost 10 years ago. I hadn't realized how much time has already passed since all these things happened. It would be nice to see a new documentary like this one, made in 2008 perhaps to reflect on what has happened in the previous 10 years. Just a thought.

Did you pay attention in High School?

2007-03-28T22:54:00.001-06:00

You paid attention during 91% of high school!

85-100% You must be an autodidact, because American high schools don't get scores that high! Good show, old chap!

Do you deserve your high school diploma?

Create a Quiz

Thank you for scoring highly on this quiz, there is sweet hope for the future. If you did not score high, please join the Volunteer for Human Extinction Movement. Either way, share your results with your friends so they can take this quiz and test their knowledge!

Sex Education

2007-03-25T00:29:00.000-06:00

I wanted to get a feel for what people think on this subject. I have a pretty good idea already but thought we could get a little discussion going.

I was watching this video along with some others and was thinking about this topic. Personally, I know that abstinence is the only way to prevent pregnancy and disease when it comes to sex. I also know that when properly used a condom is highly effective at preventing pregnancy and in most cases the transmission of diseases. My question is, does it send a mixed message to tell your kid(s) not to have sex, but if they do, use a condom? Does the insistence of abstinence get lost in the request to use a condom if they decide not to adhere to the former? I wonder if the hard line gets blurry at that point or if the rule is somehow watered down by the recognition that they may not absolutely adhere to your rule.

For myself, I managed to abstain until after my wife and I were to be married. No she was not my first serious relationship although ours has certainly been the longest. I don't really remember much of the sex education I got as a kid, so it's hard for me to point specifically to one thing helping me along the way. Obviously, my faith played a large role. I think I generally have a pretty strong sense of personal willpower. I don't think that alone will take you all the way. Some of you may know I was in the Navy for six years. You probably realize the potential opportunities for straying that may provide. I would like to say my faith alone took me through that particular period unscathed. I might also like to think that my willpower alone was enough to withstand all the pressures I dealt with. Again I find myself at a loss to fully explain how this came about. I think it was a combination of those things and probably a few others.

Anyway, what do you guys think of this? What should we tell the youth of our nation when it comes to sex? What message will get through to them most effectively? We clearly have some issues with rampant teen pregnancy and STD's. If nothing else, the fact that some states are making it mandatory to vaccinate girls for HPV should be an indicator that something is seriously wrong here. I don't know how to fix it myself. I doubt any one person could have any one answer that would fix it all. My hope is that we can generate some ideas for a solution. Let's see what we can figure out.

It's been a month already?

2007-03-24T23:36:00.000-06:00

Ok, now I feel bad. I was doing pretty good there for a while getting a few posts a week sometimes even a few a day. I will admit I have been busy with the obvious, school, work, and family the whole time. In addition to that, however, I have also been heavily investing my time on a forum with some people I know that also have a community blog together. Since I was the one that actually setup the forum, I have felt an innate responsibility for providing content as well as harassing individuals into participating so that we have something of a community to work with. We have done pretty well for the number of people actually participating. At the moment we have 2214 posts including 491 different topics in about a dozen categories. I invite all to check it out and see what all the fuss is about. Here's the link. I think I will add that to the blog here so it is easier to find in the future. Enjoy.

I will try to be more balanced in my approach in the future.

A Tool Worthy of Batman's Utility Belt

2007-02-24T01:13:00.000-06:00

Now this is just too cool. It seems like a simple enough idea but it's nice to see some people took the time to actually make it work. Here's the link. Check out the picture.

The Dangers of Unprotected Sex(video) - NSFW

2007-02-23T00:12:00.000-06:00

This is a powerful video that gets a decent message across. It is a bit racy and intense at moments so it is not safe for work in case you were unsure. I would still encourage anyone who hasn't seen it to take a look and see what you think. For those with more sensitive tastes I should specify there is a small amount of nudity involved. It is from the back of a guy so it's not too bad but I thought I should be upfront with it so you don't have any surprises.

Can't Touch This

2007-02-17T00:17:00.000-06:00

I found an article linked to from the page about the amazing new touchscreen technology I talked about on Thursday. It seems there are some similar items already in use but nothing quite like it. Apparently he has already sold one of the screens to the military for a significant amount of money. I'm curious who bought it and what they plan to use it for. The possibilities are limitless. The article goes more in depth in explaining how he came about the idea and the basic setup and how it works. Seems rather ingenious and obviously works pretty well. One of my initial concerns has been cleared up. The screen is smudge proof and highly durable. I definitely want one but I am not ready or able to pay six figures for it. I will have to wait until they become much more affordable like most others. Still, it's nice to see true innovators doing what they do and making cool new products for the rest of us to enjoy.

Starfield - My Generation (music video picture collage)

2007-02-16T00:18:00.001-06:00

In case you're not sure, this is not your typical music video. This is a picture collage to the song highlighting some of the tragedies that have taken place during the author's generation. Take a look and see if you are not moved as well.

Glenn Beck on Iran

2007-02-15T23:52:00.001-06:00

He talks about the building storm and also the silver lining on the cloud as well. The Iranian public is not with their President and they are speaking out in their votes. We can only hope reason will continue to reign.

Paradoxical Undressing - Cold weather survival tips

2007-02-15T23:18:00.001-06:00

In case you are ever in a situation where hypothermia is a potential risk, this information could very well save your life. Apparently, there is a physiological reaction during the hypothermic state that causes the victim to remove warm clothing when it is most needed. The article explains further and it makes a lot of sense. There is a point when all your muscles get tired and your body relaxes that causes all the heat left in your core to spread to your extremities making you feel warm even while your body temperature is still dropping. This also explains why victims experiencing this reaction fight off rescuer attempts to warm them. Take heed and try to keep a cool head as the rest of your body cools down.

Amazing new GUI (not Vista) ;) (video)

2007-02-15T22:19:00.000-06:00

This is very impressive. If you have seen Minority Report you will recognize this kind of interface. It is apparently fully functional as it appears in the video. All I want to know is when will we be able to get our hands on it?

How not to talk to your kids

2007-02-14T17:40:00.001-06:00

New York Magazine has an interesting article about the negative power of overly positive praise of your kids. It hadn't really occurred to me that there was a downside to telling your kids how smart they were. Apparently they found that in some cases the kids were unwilling to try things they weren't initially good at for fear of failure. According to the testing they did, the kids that were praised for their efforts were more willing to try challenging things, while the kids that were praised for their intelligence were more willing to try easier tasks again. Interesting ideas.

Top 11 Tom Cruise movies

2007-02-14T16:39:00.001-06:00

So here's my top 11 Tom Cruise films in chronological order:

Risky Business (1983)
Top Gun (1986)
Rain Man (1988)
A Few Good Men (1992)
Mission: Impossible (1996)
Jerry Maguire (1996)
Mission: Impossible II (2000)
Vanilla Sky (2001)
Minority Report (2002)
The Last Samurai (2003)
Mission: Impossible III (2006)

Believe it or not, I just tried to put a list of the ones I thought were his best and it ended up as 11. Weird.

Also posted here.

Who watches the watchers in surveillance society?

2007-02-06T16:31:00.000-06:00

I saw this on Reuters. It is a fairly in depth article on the trend of ever increasing video surveillance just about anywhere you go in major cities. The didn't mention any specifically but there are also some lesser cities where this is becoming commonplace as well.

I am a bit torn on this issue. On the one hand I can see a lot of potential for abuse and privacy and civil liberties getting flushed down the toilet. At the same time, I can see the necessity in some places as protection for citizens or property. I find it a bit distressing how many cameras are in place in some of these cities. Especially since they haven't been shown to prevent crime, only move it around. Theoretically, if there were enough of them to essentially cover all public areas that might mitigate the crime to a degree. The problem is with that many cameras, you would need a whole police force of people to make an reasonable attempt at monitoring them. They do discuss the intelligent analysis software that cuts out the person monitoring the video. If it actually worked that might be a good thing, since there is less privacy issue then. On the other hand, there are currently plenty of false positives that might raise suspicion where none is warranted. I don't think this is the last we will hear of this issue or the concerns being raised here.

Also posted on Concerned Citizens.

Solving a Rubik's cube in five steps(video)

2007-02-05T02:34:00.000-06:00

I unfortunately don't have one of my own to try this on. I admit it did confuse me a bit on some of the steps. Maybe someone that has a cube can benefit from this process. Enjoy!

How To: Rubik's Cube - video powered by Metacafe

Amazing new chair design(video)

2007-02-04T20:22:00.001-06:00

All I want to know is, where do I get one?

New Chair Design - video powered by Metacafe

Youth and war, a deadly duo

2007-02-03T22:08:00.001-06:00

Christopher Caldwell writes about an interesting theory here. Basically, wherever the population of youths under about the age of 20 is proportionally larger than other age groups in a region, there is going to be violence. If the youths are predominately under the age of 15, there will be indiscriminate violence. While this might seem a bit disturbing and perhaps a reach, there is some positive to this notion. Theoretically, once the bulges of youth pass(they grow up) then the widespread violence may settle down as well. I don't know how much stock I put in this, but it is a fascinating idea. Thoughts?

Windows Vista - A Cautionary Tale

2007-02-03T21:27:00.003-06:00

For all those who immediately went in and changed the folder options to show you all your file extensions even if Windows knows what it is and show you your hidden files and folders even if Windows doesn't want to show them to you, you will not be surprised by one of the new 'features' in Vista.

This article describes a new feature that protects you from editing things in program files since you shouldn't be doing that. Instead of throwing up an error telling you it's not a good idea it simply ignores the changes and pretends nothing happened. When MS applications access the file they don't see the changes. When anything else accesses the file it does see the changes. I guess I should clarify. Vista-aware applications will not see the changes while non-aware applications will. Clear enough? Unfortunately it doesn't appear to be a simple on/off switch to disable this like the items mentioned above. Apparently you can use a Vista feature called symlinks to create a link to a folder outside the program files and then it is normal again. I am not running vista myself, so I will take his word for it. Pretty weird stuff. I love the analogy he uses at the end of the article:

Well, maybe: but it felt a little like taking a walk in the woods behind your new high-tech house, stepping off the path to pick up a walking stick, and getting attacked by a mechanical bear. After you wrestle the bear to the ground, you find out this bear is designed to keep you and your sticks secure (after all, you could poke your eye out), so the bear was for your own good, and if you use the Stick Supply House instead of just picking up random sticks, everything will be okay. But i’ve gotten used to picking up sticks in the woods, and they’re my woods, after all.
Anyway, you’ve been warned: there are bears in the woods.

There are indeed. Take heed my friends.

Next time pull down the shades

2007-02-03T03:25:00.001-06:00

So the Agitator had a rather disturbing article about police escalating a situation into a full fledged standoff with over 60 officers present over one man minding his own business in his apartment.

I think this is sad for one and ridiculous for another. It is sad that these law enforcement officers wasted so much tax money on something completely unnecessary and I think illegal. The ridiculous part is that this ever got past the security guards' supervisor. He could have simply checked out the situation and/or talked to the man and realized it was much ado about nothing. Instead he pushed the escalator on up and things got out of hand pretty quick after that.

As the author says, if you are concerned about your 2nd amendment rights, you should be very worried. He mentions two other stories but no links to them of similar circumstances, neither of which turned out as well as this one. Personally I am not a big fan of guns although I have fired a couple while in the military for training purposes. That being said, I have no issue with those that do feel the need to own legal weapons. That is their right. We should be extremely upset about this horrendous ordeal escalating out of nothing. Next time it could be you or me.

Ollie North sounds off on the media

2007-02-02T22:21:00.001-06:00

This is a good take on the current media situation here in the US and in the UK. I wish people would support the war effort instead of doing everything they can to bring it down. Maybe they don't understand the importance of victory in this case. Maybe they don't care about the positive signs that come up every now and then.

Military shows off new ray gun

2007-02-02T18:47:00.001-06:00

This is an interesting new idea for non lethal force protection. Raytheon has apparently developed a ray gun which causes the person targeted to feel sudden intense heat as if their clothes would catch on fire, but does no actual damage. It uses millimeter waves which do not penetrate the skin as far as more traditional microwaves like those used in your home. It could be used for riot control or any other situation where you want to encourage dispersement or convince an enemy to drop their weapon. It looks like it won't be ready until 2010, but they were testing it on volunteers to see the effect. I would be interested to see how effective this would actually be against rioters and/or insurgents. If it was effective, this could really help our troops if they are still over there by then. It doesn't seem to go through walls so that may limit its usefulness to a point. I still think it would help a lot with military and police forces and give them another option besides killing someone. That is bound to make people more cooperative.

Something of a Milestone I guess

2007-02-02T03:04:00.000-06:00

So believe it or not I have sailed right past 100 posts here at Thought Central. There have not been nearly as many comments as posts. This not all that surprising I suppose. Occasionally one or two will trickle in and that's nice. I guess I can delude myself that many are reading but have nothing to say ;) Oh well. It's enjoyable in itself I suppose and a good way to get my ideas out of my head. Hopefully going forward I will put a few more of those kinds of things in rather than simply commenting on articles as I have usually done.

For those that are reading and are curious what the future holds, here is a rough idea to clue you in. There will be more YouTube and Google videos. I am thinking about more creative ways of incorporating the music videos like I did with a couple here recently in video battles. I may also try to feature a different artist every so often, like weekly kind of like I had started to do before. The key element there is the actual introduction of new artists, not just new videos by the same artists as before. I hadn't intended to go that route originally, so I will try to stick with introducing new artists. As time goes on, I may reintroduce some that haven't been featured in a while, but I will try to keep that to a minimum. Then there are the videos of either odd or funny things. Lets not forget the occasional news like or op ed videos like Glenn Beck's most recent one I had posted.

I would like to come up with certain periodic features that could be consistent and predictable, but hopefully still interesting. Maybe an issue of the month or something. This could consist of a single condensed post on that topic or maybe a series of posts with different takes on the item of choice. Other ideas are of course welcome, but don't worry I will think of something.
I will continue to find thought provoking and/or interesting articles of varied subject matter. I would like to set some sort of quota for myself but I am afraid that might lead to lesser quality pieces being thrown in during my more harried moments. I'll see what I can come up with on that.

I would also like to more consistently feature OU related stories or posts. I think I went way overboard on the prep for the Fiesta Bowl. I do think all of those videos were worth watching, but I also think it was way too much in such a short period to be usable. In addition, I would like to have more actual stories or perhaps my own op ed pieces to complement other types of content. Again other ideas are welcome.

Without going back through every type of post I think that is probably the areas of focus going forward. I will of course try to break things up with some random or fun things as well to keep you guessing.

Here's a cool picture I found on JEFFREY K. BEDRICK's page. It is named milestone and you can probably understand why by looking at it. It seemed appropriate for the occasion.

Thanks for reading.

All google all the time

2007-02-02T02:42:00.001-06:00

I haven't gone quite as all in as Mr. Wilson describes here, but I do find myself using many Google owned products, like Blogger(obviously) and Picasa, Google Earth(occasionally), and of course Gmail. I'm sure there are others I'm not thinking. What do you make of this trend? Is it a happy confluence of useful tools we can all appreciate or a concerted effort to control your every move?

Performancing plugin for Firefox

2007-02-02T02:32:00.001-06:00

I don't know if anyone has been noticing the little powered by Performancing links at the bottom of some of my posts lately. I came across this plugin while adding several others. I will try to profile the best of these at some point in the future. Don't hold your breath though. Here's a features list to give you an idea:

Features

Full WYSIWYG and source editing
Save as Notes
Add all your various blog accounts
Technorati Support
Delicious integration
Trackback support
Draft support
Ping support
Image upload and FTP
Metrics stats

Check it out here. I highly recommend it to any of you blog authors out there. I think you will find it to be a tremendous asset.

Addendum: I forgot to mention it is undergoing some transition right now. The plugin itself still works great but they are giving it it's own domain, Scribefire and at some point it will transition to being called that I guess. Some of the functions like metrics that were available will probably be going away at least for a while. Read more here.

Military Builds Robotic Insects

2007-02-02T02:20:00.001-06:00

This is some wild stuff. I had heard of this type of thing before, but it seems like there has been a good bit of new development in the area since then. I'm a bit concerned about the technology getting into the hands of terrorists though. I might be wrong, but it seems like these would be pretty hard to defend against. I don't see how an international ban on MAVs will curtail their deployment by those outside of legal boundaries in the slightest. Anyone have a better idea of how to prevent or combat these potential threats?

Muse - Hysteria (video battle)

2007-02-01T13:45:00.000-06:00

So this is apparently not as uncommon as I originally thought. We have two videos for the same song. The songs themselves seem to be identical so these are not remixes or anything as far as I can tell. Which video do you prefer?
For sake of clarity, I will label them #1 & 2. This doesn't indicate any preference only a means to avoid confusion.
#1

#2

Enjoy.

Ten Myths about the Bush Tax Cuts

2007-02-01T04:33:00.001-06:00

I know what you might be thinking. What good is Bush anyway? I mean it seems like he keeps screwing things up and now we're stuck with the mess he's made, right? Not exactly. At least not in terms of the economy. The Heritage Foundation has a thorough look at the Ten myths commonly associated with Bush's tax cuts and their impact on the economy. Not surprising(at least to me), these tax cuts actually increased tax revenue. What might surprise you is that in spite of what is commonly heard(tax cuts benefit the wealthy, not the rest of us) the group benefiting least would be the wealthy. This is the primary reason for increased tax revenue, in addition the common sense economy boost of putting more money back in people's pockets so they can spend it had a great effect.

How many of you are there?

2007-02-01T04:26:00.001-06:00

So my wife tipped me off to this site. I thought it was interesting and informative. Here's my results:

HowManyOfMe.com

There are:

9,118

people with my name

in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

What about you?

The Fray - How to save a life(music video-two versions)

2007-01-29T02:53:00.000-06:00

So this should be interesting. Here we have two versions of the same song video wise. Which do you prefer? Vote here.

Kutless - Run (music video)

2007-01-28T17:25:00.000-06:00

This is a ballad from the Kutless self-titled album.

Glenn Beck on Illegal immigration(video)

2007-01-28T12:15:00.000-06:00

This is his take on the issue. I agree that we seem to have forgotten that this is still an important issue to our nation's security. Hopefully we can institute something that actually works to secure the borders and still provides legal passage for those who need or want it.

Can it be defeated?

2007-01-27T03:47:00.001-06:00

This is a fascinating and very educational interview with a former special forces officer and authority on counterinsurgency wars. There are links at the top to watch online which takes you to the 4 segments of an hour PBS program on the Iraqi insurgency. It takes you from the origins around the time of invasion and up to about a year ago when it was initially aired. I know it is no short video clip but I would encourage anyone with an interest in just what we're up against to watch it in it's entirety. This is obviously not for the squeamish or weak at heart. The video itself is not all that disturbing, but there are some interviews with victims of the insurgents, innocent civilians living in Tal Afar(I think) which are pretty graphic in their depictions of the events there. These are not nice people in case you missed that. They have no scruples and will stop at nothing to ensure the chaos continues and the country is ungovernable. There has been some division among the insurgents and from what I gather from the information there is not a central structure of any kind. Instead there are 50 to 100 different groups acting somewhat independently of each other. This of course presents an advantage and a challenge at the same time. The lack of any cohesive structure or strategy limits the overall effectiveness of their attacks. On the other hand, their lack of any central command makes it very difficult to bring them down.

The future of Iraq is still uncertain at this point. One thing we do know for sure, our forces cannot be defeated militarily, but they can fail to win if the political process doesn't take hold as it should. There is a long road yet ahead. I don't know if we as a country have the stomach for it, but I hope we can manage to keep it together long enough to stabilize their country and make for a safe way in the future.

Skillet-Savior (music video)

2007-01-27T02:01:00.000-06:00

Another great song and video from Skillet. This is a little older off of their Collide album.

Kutless - Strong Tower (music video)

2007-01-26T04:04:00.000-06:00

This is another song from Kutless. This is from an earlier album of the same name, Strong Tower.

Skillet-Rebirthing (music video)

2007-01-19T01:53:00.000-06:00

Amazing song and decent video by Skillet. This is off their Comatose album.

Prison time for viewing porn?

2007-01-17T19:30:00.000-06:00

ABC News had this article and also apparently interviewed the family on 20/20. So there was child porn or something similar found on the computer. Since he was the one using it he was the one arrested for it. He faced up to 90 years in prison for nine images on his hard drive. A forensic computer expert examined the computer and found hundreds of back door programs that would have allowed anyone capable of using them access to the computer. They ended up setting up a plea agreement where he pled guilty of showing a Playboy to friends at school(a seemingly unrelated charge) but would be a registered sex offender, with all that entails. It ended up getting appealed and they were notified he would not be registered as a sex offender after all.

The family computer now has no access to the internet and they seem to be afraid of it. The kid admitted he had looked at some 'Playboy like' adult porn from a website kids at school had told him about. That may be embarrassing for him to admit, but not illegal. He also passed two polygraph tests and two psychiatric exams determining that he was without perverted tendencies. I'm not sure if that means all that much. I do think the polygraph tests probably mean a bit more, but they are also not admissible in court, since they can be defeated.

I do think we should have harsh rules when it comes to sex offenders. In some cases I think they should be even harsher. For those that saw it, I had a post a while back on a case that is a fine example of this. I don't know if I would apply that same standard to the kid here. Anyone else have thoughts on this?

Relient K - Who I am hates who I've been (music video)

2007-01-16T03:36:00.000-06:00

This is another song off their MMHMM album. This is also pretty original in the video aspect. I think the song itself is also pretty good of course.

From bears to bullets

2007-01-15T21:17:00.000-06:00

Wade Hemsworth of the Hamilton Spectator writes about an inventor who has created a suit of armor for soldiers and police forces in this article. Check out the picture.
I think it could work. It does weigh a fair bit, but less than it would appear. From the initial testing done so far, it does seem to work. I would be interested to see how the full battery of tests goes. Assuming it performs as well as he thinks it will it could be a great thing for our military and police forces.

Relient K - Be my escape (music video)

2007-01-14T23:20:00.000-06:00

Great video, a bit more originality than most others. Great song as well. This is Relient K. The song is from their album MMHMM.

Procrastination

2007-01-13T23:11:00.000-06:00

I think this pretty much says it all.

Kutless - Shut me out (music video)

2007-01-13T15:17:00.000-06:00

Great song from Kutless. This is off their album Hearts of the Innocent

Impossible made possible

2007-01-13T02:43:00.000-06:00

Check out the picture and see what you think of it. Is it real? Photoshopped perhaps? I don't know, should I tell you? Check out this movie to find out.

Time to get a shredder

2007-01-13T02:26:00.000-06:00

If anyone has ever gotten an unsolicited credit card offer(and we all have) then this should really scare you. If you're like me, you not only get one, but often more than one, sometimes in the same batch of mail. That's a lot of stuff to shred let me tell you. Check out this experiment to see just how the credit card company reacts to a torn up and reconstituted application.

Sanctus Real - I'm not alright (music video)

2007-01-12T03:35:00.000-06:00

A great song and pretty good video by Sanctus Real. This is off their new album The Face of Love.

Medal of Honor recipient

2007-01-12T01:17:00.000-06:00

No this is not a picture of the medal of honor recipient, it's a picture of our president tearing up during the ceremony. The source was Reuters. I have included their caption below the picture.

Tears run from the eyes of U.S. President George W. Bush during a ceremony in honor of Medal of Honor winner Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham in the East room of the White House in Washington, January 11, 2007. Cpl. Dunham was killed when he jumped on a grenade to save fellow members of his Marine patrol while serving in Iraq.

11 Jan 2007 REUTERS/Jim Bourg

I echo Mr. Bush's sentiments I think. I am both deeply saddened that such a great man gave his life and extremely proud that he made the decision to save the lives of his military brothers. This is the kind of thing that people outside the military have difficulty comprehending. I for one have served with many men I would give my life for and I know they would do the same for me if the situation called for it. I hoped and prayed the time would not come that I would need to, but I was ready to do so if necessary. I would like to think I could go through with such an act of bravery and courage. I don't know for sure that I could. I hope so. We would all be better for having known a man like Cpl. Dunham. Not that I knew him, but there are certainly others like him out there. May he rest in peace.

Mysterious flower has been loosely categorized

2007-01-12T01:10:00.000-06:00

I remember hearing about a flower similar to this before. Not sure if it was the same one or not. It has blooms measuring three feet across and weighing fifteen pounds. It smells like rotting flesh to lure flies in to pollinate it. Apparently it doesn't even use photosynthesis for energy and yet gives off heat to further simulate a fresh corpse. It also uses other plants for it's roots and foundation and the only part of it you see is the bloom. Wild stuff. Caption from Reuters below.

This photo taken in Batang Palupuh, Sumatra, Indonesia, in July 2005 shows A. Yen examining the plant Rafflesia arnoldii. Scientists have used genetic analysis to solve the long-standing mystery of the lineage of the rafflesia flower, known for its blood-red bloom measuring three feet (1 meter) wide and its nauseating stench of rotting flesh published in the journal Science on January 11, 2007. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY NO SALES NO ARCHIVE REUTERS/Jeremy Holden/Harvard University/Handou

Cisco sues Apple over iPhone name

2007-01-11T02:23:00.000-06:00

Interesting. I had forgotten about this but obviously Cisco was paying attention. Apple seems to think they will be able to get away with it since they are marketing a different type of product with the same name. I don't think that would hold much water, but I'm not a trademark lawyer, so I will leave it to them. It would be pretty funny if Apple had to change the name to something else after their big announcement. I wonder what else they would call it? The 'ICall'? Maybe I should trademark that one real quick.

Grocery staff finds drugs in banana boxes

2007-01-11T02:15:00.000-06:00

Someone in Colombia is going to be pretty upset about this shipping error. I am glad that it ended up in the 'wrong' hands in this case. I hope they destroyed them. Then again, this was Amsterdam, not sure if that particular drug is legal there or not. Hmmm.

Final part of the Fiesta Bowl (video)

2007-01-09T01:48:00.000-06:00

For those that can stand to watch it, this is probably the best part of the game...except for the ending of course. OU takes the lead for the first time and shows a great possession in OT. You already know the rest.

Spoiled Rich Girl gets the wrong color car for her birthday (video)

2007-01-09T00:25:00.000-06:00

Wow, this kid would never have a car while living in my house. In fact, they probably wouldn't be leaving the house for a while. Not sure whose punishment that would be though ;)

The number 6174

2007-01-08T11:35:00.000-06:00

Yutaka Nishiyama has written this fascinating study on the mysteries of this number and why it is so special. This is the first I had heard of Kaprekar's operation, but apparently he created it in 1949. For those interested in numbers at all, this presents an interesting case study. I do believe this is one of those incidental patterns in numbers that are seen throughout mathematics. Obviously I believe a higher power had his hand in this, but that's not important here. I think it is enough to enjoy the beauty of the thing.

For sale: world's smallest country

2007-01-08T11:16:00.000-06:00

News.com.au reports on this story. So this British Army major took over an old fort off the coast of england and declared it his own sovereign nation. They have written a constitution, created a flag, currency, a national anthem and other typical things that go along with sovereign nations. Now forty years later, his son is apparently interested in selling the whole thing to rejuvenate the country. I'm not sure how this will have that effect, but it certainly makes for an interesting news story.

Sealand, as it is called, has even defended itself against hostile takeover, kidnapping/coup attempts and the like. Their national status has been called into question many times, but apparently since they are out past the three mile mark from the coast of england, they are not subject to its rule. Thoughts?

Teach both theories, let the kids decide

2007-01-08T11:12:00.000-06:00

A humorous look at the Creation vs. Evolution debate.

Gaseous odor permeates Manhattan

2007-01-08T11:09:00.000-06:00

CNN reported on this one. Apparently there has been a very strong gas smell all over the city. Residents described it as 1000 times stronger than what you would smell at a gas station. Authorities have declared it no danger and are closely monitoring the situation. It will be interesting to see what comes of this.

Rabbit vs. Snake (video)

2007-01-08T11:05:00.000-06:00

I haven't heard the audio on this yet, but the video itself is fairly impressive. You'll never guess who gets the upper hand shall we say. Enjoy.

Prayer in Schools

2007-01-08T03:01:00.000-06:00

I found this article on Dave's blog in the comments section from this post. The author wrote this a few years ago apparently. This topic can be very confusing indeed. I like the way he brings the legal issues together on this.

I don't have any problem with students doing their own prayers for themselves. I doubt anyone would. I like the three prongs of the Lemon test. I think that is a good standard to go by. Believe it or not, I don't think the government should be legislating morality. That's not their role. I also don't think of schools as 'religion free zones'. Kids should be able to openly discuss how they feel amongst themselves as long as they have willing listeners. Obviously this shouldn't interfere with other students or the ability to learn. I don't have a problem with a moment of silence daily for personal reflection, meditation, and/or prayer. I can see how that might fail the Lemon test for the possible advancement of religion. I could argue the psychological benefits of daily personal reflection, but I don't know if that would be convincing. I will probably come up with more on this later, but for now, I'll go ahead and post this to gather others thoughts on the subject.

World War Three seen through Soviet eyes

2007-01-05T01:55:00.000-06:00

David Rennie in Warsaw writes about Poland opening their secret Warsaw Pact archives to the world. It paints an interesting if not troubling picture of nuclear war in Europe. They have a graphic that shows the basic idea with lines of mushroom clouds cutting the area up into pieces. Thankfully that never came to fruition. This would be particularly interesting to history buffs.

I am Spiderman...no seriously, check it out

2007-01-03T22:31:00.000-06:00

Your results:
You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man		95%
Green Lantern		90%
Superman		80%
Hulk		80%
The Flash		70%
Robin		60%
Supergirl		55%
Batman		40%
Wonder Woman		35%
Iron Man		30%
Catwoman		25%

You are intelligent, witty,
a bit geeky and have great
power and responsibility.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz...

Linkin Park - From the Inside (music video)

2007-01-03T13:58:00.000-06:00

I have to admit I had pretty much forgotten about this video until I happened across it again today. I guess it goes to show they have so many great videos, sometimes they get lost in the shuffle. This one is pretty powerful, like some of their others. Hope you enjoy.

Instant Classic

2007-01-02T02:58:00.000-06:00

Well it didn't turn out like I had hoped, but I would tend to agree with ESPN's take on the game. An instant classic. No one could have predicted this kind of crazy game. While I was a little disappointed at times with some of the play by the Sooners, I have to give credit to the Broncos. They played with tremendous heart. Granted, they had everything to gain and nothing to lose, so that probably gave them an edge, but they showed they could really show up and play with anyone. I think their QB Zabransky will have a great future in the NFL. He showed excellent poise under pressure. I was hoping we would give him a lot more pressure, but he didn't falter once that I saw. He was able to execute play after play almost flawlessly. I'm afraid this team was heavily underrated. When I heard they were supposed to be a 13 point underdog I thought that was a bit much. My prediction before the game was 42-35 Sooners winning of course. I almost nailed it dead on when the Sooners scored in OT. But then the Broncos came back again and pulled out the show stopper recovery from 4th and 18. Obviously they weren't going to try for a field goal at that point, but I would assume there were some doubts they could pull off the 1st down. But they did. I had been watching the game up until the last 6 minutes or so. So I had to hear the most amazing parts on the radio while driving to pick up my daughter from her Grandma's house. I wish I could have stayed to see it, but I guess I was glad I left when I did, since it went on for almost an hour after I left. What a game.

Lets not forget the amazing comeback the Sooners pulled off to get to the overtime finish. They tried three times for that two point conversion. They pulled it off twice to seal the deal. But we didn't want to leave it there of course. We pulled off an interception to run in for a touchdown. With the extra point good, it looked like that was going to be game. But the Broncos weren't finished yet. They went ahead and got their own extra touchdown to tie it up again and take the game into OT. The Sooners did their job and tacked on another TD to put them up by a seven point lead. Then the miraculous score by the Broncos gave them the chance to tie it up again. I guess they decided they were tired of playing in OT and went all for nothing to win the game. They pulled it off and broke our hearts but not our spirit. Truly an amazing game. Who would have thought that both teams combined would score 22 points in the final 86 seconds of regulation play? Nobody. I guess the Fiesta Bowl got what they came for, a stunning performance indeed. Hope everyone got to see it. If not, I am certain there will be highlights of the key plays replayed later.

I was a little disappointed after the game was done, but then I realized something. We were at the end of our own kind of cinderella season as well. Not quite as pretty as BSU, but still memorable. We defied the odds and proved worthy through a great deal of adversity. I like what Coach Stoops said about that. Something on the order of, We don't consider it adversity, we consider it opportunity. They took the opportunity available and ran with it. We got to the Fiesta Bowl and took the Big 12 Championship along the way. That is worth a lot and we have a lot to be proud of. Don't hang your heads guys, you did well. After all, one of the commentators was kind enough to point out we are the winningest franchise in all of the NCAA since WWII. That's Oklahoma football. See you next season. Have a great 2007.

New Years Fireworks (video)

2007-01-01T11:33:00.000-06:00

A short little video to celebrate the new year. Happy New Year everyone. Hope all have been able to spend some time with their loved ones at this time of year.

Starship size comparison chart (pic)

2006-12-31T12:12:00.000-06:00

This is pretty impressive detail. For the truly geeky out there, this is great information. For the curious, it's very interesting and perhaps thought provoking. Click on the picture for a larger image so you can actually see something.

Fiesta Bowl Preview (video)

2006-12-30T11:58:00.000-06:00

CBS does a nice preview of the upcoming game and makes a prediction. We look forward to it. See you there.

Boomer Sooner Bird (video)

2006-12-30T11:55:00.000-06:00

A cute little video of a bird singing the fight song. Talented. Notice the Tostito's bag in the background. Looking forward to the Fiesta Bowl.

OU 2000 highlight reel (video)

2006-12-30T11:45:00.000-06:00

A comprehensive and well done 2000 highlight reel. Truly a great season and excellent follow through. Sooner tradition living on. To many future championships. Enjoy.

That's OU Football 99 (video)

2006-12-30T11:41:00.000-06:00

Not the worst season by far. A great start for Stoops. Nice precursor to the great 2000 season. Some great highlights here. That's OU Football. Enjoy.

Fake punt and deep pass against Alabama (video)

2006-12-30T11:30:00.000-06:00

Not pretty but a nice trick play all the same. Delivering on the goods with the long pass later sealed the deal. Enjoy.

Jason White throws 3 TDs against Kansas (video)

2006-12-30T11:27:00.000-06:00

What an arm! Accurate too. This is a nice quick video. Enjoy.

OU 2004 highlights (video)

2006-12-30T11:19:00.000-06:00

A little more recent video. We get to see a little bit of freshman Adrian Peterson and Senior Jason White. While I don't necessarily like how the season ended, I think we can all agree it was still a great year. Being in the National Championship game is nothing to sneeze at either. Enjoy.

Roy William highlight reel (video)

2006-12-30T11:17:00.000-06:00

I suppose it doesn't hurt to take a peek at some prior greatness. What a strong safety he was. I especially like the sack right near the end, he really flies. Enjoy.

Nothing Else Matters (video)

2006-12-30T10:52:00.000-06:00

Wow, this one is far better than the last. Shows a lot more game coverage, better soundtrack, very well put together. Kudos to the creator. A great look at the proud tradition of being champions. Truly an Oklahoma tradition. Enjoy. See you on Monday.

Looks like it came from here.

Boomer Sooner Bounce (video)

2006-12-30T10:48:00.000-06:00

Here's a nice little video for all the Sooner fans out there. Boomer Sooner. Looking forward to New Years Day when OU beats Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl. I think I'll post a few more Sooner videos I came across. Hope no one minds.

The Year in Prudie

2006-12-30T01:17:00.000-06:00

I haven't read this column before but it was fascinating to read about her views on certain issues and how very different a lot of people seem to feel about those same issues. I'll summarize a few of the high points, but I would encourage reading the whole thing yourself of course.

Apparently a lot of her readers felt it was a ridiculously antiquated notion that marriage and childbirth should be associated if not joined at the hip shall we say. I strongly agree with her basic assertions that while it may not be advisable to marry the guy/gal you had a one night stand with, it is perfectly reasonable and responsible to marry your long term partner that you are already in a committed relationship with. I would go a step further and encourage those in such a relationship to save themselves for each other and wait for marriage to have the children that will likely result from intimate encounters. Some would call this old fashioned or prudish. I can understand that, but I still think it is the best approach. I won't deny the accusation of being traditional or old fashioned in some of my beliefs. I won't make any excuses either. I'm not going to be self righteous and say I'm perfect and so should everyone else be. I'm far from it. I just think these are good goals and ideals to be held up. Life and people are not perfect. That doesn't keep us from striving towards that goal. I don't always progress forwards on that regard, but I put my efforts toward that direction. I may falter at times or stumble, but I know that there is always another opportunity to redeem myself. This can be applied to anyone of course, but that's how I feel about it.

I also would tend to agree that stable happy couples should have children. I'm not advocating anyone making those kinds of decisions for anyone else. I do think that stable happy couples are the ideal setting for childrearing. That is the cornerstone for stable happy children. Let's not confuse the issue though. Having children is a big responsibility. They don't call it life changing for no reason. Being a fairly new parent I can vouch for that. That being said, I feel very blessed and fortunate to be a parent. The joy of raising your own children is something truly wonderful. It is not all joy and happiness of course. There are frustrations, trying experiences galore. This is no different than any other life experiences as far as I know. The rewards are more than worth it I think. There are probably other parents out there who would agree with me here. You love your kids and you do your best to raise them right. You hope for the best for them. That is what being a parent is all about. In the process you get to share in their struggles and their triumphs. This can be a great experience. All that aside, having children is best done in the safety and security of a stable and committed relationship. Marriage is ideal for this purpose. That's what it is for. Before I get any griping about marriage being between two people, yes of course it is. Guess what, marriage is a lifetime commitment. I know the mass media and society at large tend to make light of that fact. Your vows indicate as such. Until death us do part. Death only happens once in a lifetime. That means you are supposed to be married to this person for your whole life. Barring any miraculous and somewhat irresponsible people, most married people find they have a lot of life left after they have raised their kids. If you do it right, you get to be grandparents too, but that still leaves an awful lot of time for just you and your spouse. From what I hear, being a grandparent is far superior to being a parent as well. If you plan well, you may be close to retirement by the time that happens. Then you get to enjoy life for real. You can do what you want when you want together. That is certainly something I am looking forward to. I think that should cover it. Hope I made some sort of point here.

Here's a great quote from the article:

I maintain that children themselves are little throwbacks, since they have a strong aversion to watching their parents search for "the one." And when a child is eventually old enough to do the math and figures out that mom was pregnant when she married dad, is that really so terrible? Is it worse than knowing that while mom and dad were willing to have sex with each other, they didn't even love each other enough to commit to being a family?

I wholeheartedly agree. What message would you send to your child if you are willing to have them with someone but not willing to make an environment hospitable to raising them properly? I understand and acknowledge there are certain situations where this is not possible. I will maintain that this doesn't change the impression your child gets from their environment. Unfortunately, they may grow up and have issues with their own lives. Hopefully, they will come to the realization that they are not responsible for their parent(s)' mistakes but only for their own. In fact, they should do their best to learn from other's mistakes and build on that knowledge for their own betterment in the future. This is not always possible. We still have to make some mistakes for ourselves, that is part of growing up and life in general. Mistakes can be a great learning experience though. Whether they are our own or our parents' they can be used for the best.

There was an interesting discussion on the idea of married men not wearing rings because of concerns of being caught in machinery and losing either fingers or worse. I am fortunately not in a working environment involving machinery that would endanger my limbs were my ring to get caught in anything. I can see that being an issue for many so I would acknowledge the concern and could understand if they chose not to wear it while working. I would think they would put it back on when not working, but I suspect that would not prove to be a habit that would form. Some interesting notions and ideas for possible solutions in this quote:

Wives of ringless men wrote to say a ring won't keep a bad man from cheating, nor will the absence of one prompt a good man to stray. Several people said they got around this problem with ring tattoos (which say "forever" far more seriously than a diamond). And I admired the devotion of the man who lets his wife draw a henna ring around his finger monthly.

The first part there is certainly true. A ring does not automatically guarantee fidelity anymore than a lack of one ensuring infidelity. It is certainly a good reminder and symbol of your commitment. I think the notion of tattooing a ring onto your finger is ingenious. I don't think I would be interested because of the pain involved. I also don't agree with getting tattoos in the first place. That is probably a subject for another post. Suffice it to say, that would be marring the skin I was given and that is not my place to do. I won't tell others not to get one, that is their business, but for me and myself, I will refrain. I don't have any problem with the henna ring as that is only temporary. I do agree that a permanent tattoo does say forever more powerfully than a diamond or a ring in general. It is not coming off after all. To each their own.

All in all, I found the letters and her responses very interesting, thought provoking even. I would encourage anyone reading the article to click on the links to the original letters to see what the fuss is all about.

Gadgets for Sale... or Not

2006-12-30T01:03:00.000-06:00

Sean Cooper brings us this rather in depth article on market practices in electronics. Found on Slate.

I hadn't realized quite how much goes into the marketing strategies or how much influence the manufacturers have on resale past their direct vendors. Subsidies for advertising even to resellers? Who would have thought? Not too surprising I guess. It is in their best interest. Also not at all surprising that Apple holds a tyrants' grip on their market pricing. I can see why they would since they also have their own stores to keep up. If not for that they probably wouldn't care as much if someone wants to take a slight loss on their product to drive traffic. Thoughts?

The Perfect Electric Car?

2006-12-30T00:57:00.000-06:00

TechEBlog brings us this fascinating new electric vehicle company. Here's the article.

Apparently they are already capable of greater than highway speeds with full load of people and cargo. While doing this they are also capable of greater than 100 miles before a recharge which only takes 10 minutes. They are only very limited availability right now and there seems to be a line to get one. I suspect they are a bit pricey if not for any other reason than that alone. I am really interested to see how they fare in the market and also to see some real world testing like Consumer Reports or something similar. Good stuff.

Where 'Check Please' is your call

2006-12-30T00:47:00.000-06:00

PETA OWENS-LISTON writes the following in this article:

At a new breed of "Robin Hood" restaurants, diners pay what they can afford -- and what they think the meal is worth.

This is an interesting concept and for some it seems to actually work, defying all common sense to the contrary. Apparently enough well to do customers like the idea of it and make up the difference for those who can't afford as much. I'm not sure how far they can go with this, but I applaud their efforts. If they are making good food that tastes good that is always a solid foundation. I especially like that they make it fresh from fresh ingredients, that has got to add a lot to the flavor. Thoughts?

A sad day for Sony

2006-12-30T00:43:00.000-06:00

This is too bad. The PS3 while very expensive did look pretty impressive. I hope that they can manage to make enough off it and make enough games for it so that the poor folks who bought them already aren't left out in the cold. Of course that's the price you pay for riding the bleeding edge of technology, occasionally you get cut. Here's the article.

First man in space (video)

2006-12-29T00:56:00.000-06:00

Check this out! I can't believe they did this and I never heard about it. This is insane.

Just a sketch (video)

2006-12-29T00:16:00.000-06:00

This is pretty impressive. This guy and it looks like a couple of other people possibly, sketch a drawing much bigger than themselves. Very visually interesting and appealing. Check it out.

Diet Coke and Mentos fountain (video)

2006-12-28T23:53:00.000-06:00

Check out this great diet Coke and Mentos fountain show.

Remy Zero - Save Me (music video)

2006-12-24T20:47:00.000-06:00

I had first heard this song like most people as the theme song from Smallville. This song from what I could tell is a bit of a departure from most of their other ones. It is by Remy Zero. It is off their album The Golden Hum. It appears from the album review that this album was more coherent than I had given them credit for. I will have to listen to the rest of it sometime and see if they change my mind. It also appears from their website that they have disbanded. In any case, I came across this video and it's actually pretty interesting. At least odd. Let me know what you think of it.

Switchfoot - Dare you to move (music video)

2006-12-24T00:36:00.000-06:00

Excellent song and video here. Most have probably at least heard this song. If not, hopefully you will enjoy. If you have already, it won't hurt anything to have another listen. This is of course by the group Switchfoot, off their album The Beautiful Letdown. Here's the video:

Let me know what you think of it.

Linkin Park - Somewhere I Belong (music video)

2006-12-23T23:37:00.000-06:00

Another great video from Linkin Park. I think I'll try to put some of my favorite videos of theirs every day or two amongst the other posts. Hopefully there are those out there who appreciate their music and especially their great videos. Enjoy.

Man fights to keep bullet in head

2006-12-23T01:08:00.000-06:00

As if that title alone wasn't odd enough, here's the rest of the article.

A search warrant has been issued in the US for a potentially vital clue to a violent crime - a bullet lodged in a teenager's head.
Sounds ridiculous enough right? No big deal, this kid has a bullet in his head so he's bound to want it removed, we'll just examine it once that happens and see if it came from this other guy's gun. Simple right? Apparently not. His lawyer is stating it is a breach of his civil rights. It represents an unreasonable search. I'm not sure this would be considered unreasonable if the man wanted the bullet removed for medical purposes. If he doesn't mind it being there and doesn't want to have any surgery since it's not harming him at the moment, then I guess I could see it being such a case. Imagine if someone was forcing you to have a surgery you didn't want. You wouldn't like that either. I think this might fall some where along the lines of freedom from self incrimination. That sounds about right. Any other thoughts?

Rape Charges Dropped in Duke Case

2006-12-22T23:45:00.000-06:00

Here's one for you.

AARON BEARD of The Associated Press writes:

DURHAM, N.C. -- The district attorney dropped rape charges Friday against the three Duke University lacrosse players after the stripper who accused them changed her story again. But the men still face kidnapping and sex charges that could bring more than 30 years in prison.
A lawyer for one of the athletes bitterly demanded that District Attorney Mike Nifong drop the remaining counts, accusing him of offering shifting theories of the crime in an attempt to win the case at any cost.

I don't know if anyone has paid any attention to this rather drawn out case. I hadn't given it much thought until I saw a special on one of the major news networks talking about it and the defendants. It also addressed the alleged victim(s). Since I wasn't there that night and can't say authoritatively who is telling the truth, I will spare my judgment. I do think it would be a travesty if those players' lives were ruined forever on completely unsubstantiated charges. If they did do these things then they certainly deserve a severe punishment. Another related question would be, was the victim or victims raped at all? If they were and the current defendants are not the responsible parties, then wouldn't it make sense to evaluate the evidence and make a more fitting determination of other possible suspects? Just a thought.

Unplanned Freefall? Some Survival Tips

2006-12-22T23:15:00.000-06:00

A fascinating and somewhat humorous look at some key tips that can help you survive a seemingly unsurvivable situation.

David Carkeet writes:

Let's say your jet blows apart at 35,000 feet. You exit the aircraft, and you begin to descend independently. Now what?

So begins the tale and much information is given which could certainly prove useful in such a situation. Not having much experience with parachuting or free falling from any great distance, I can't really confirm or deny the accuracy of this information. I did find it rather interesting as I would hope others will also. Thoughts?

Linkin Park - Numb (music video)

2006-12-22T11:58:00.000-06:00

Here's one you probably have heard before. One of my favorite groups Linkin Park brings us this excellent song and video. This is off their second main album Meteora. I have probably heard this song over a hundred times (minimum) and seen this video dozens of times. I know a lot of people feel saturated by their music. I will admit I have gone through various time periods where I haven't listened to any of their music for months or a year at a time. The nice thing is when I do happen across it again, it is just as good if not better than the last time I heard it. These guys have really set the bar for other groups that are similar. There are quite a few of course, but I have no problem with groups like this that push the envelope and put out such quality music. I also love their videos. They do such a great job putting together some truly amazing videos. This is due in large part to their mixmaster, Mr. Hahn, who was a videographer before he joined the group. He has had some part in making all of their videos and has directed some of them himself. This is truly a great mix of talent melding together extremely well. I guess I could stop gushing now. Here's the video:

Let me know what you think.

On a lighter note...pun intended

2006-12-22T03:51:00.000-06:00

PARIS (Reuters) -

An overweight passenger has sued Air France after being told he was too fat and had to pay for a second seat to accommodate his bulk.

I'm sorry if any heavily overweight readers are offended by this. I have traveled on many a flight in coach. I am significantly smaller than the man in this article. I am a little more than half his weight. It is uncomfortable for me to sit in those tiny seats. How much more so would it be for him? I can understand his embarrassment at being called on it, but I think it is probably in his best interests if not those of his fellow passengers. Thoughts?

Court: Child-renting sentence too short

2006-12-21T23:54:00.000-06:00

From an AP article:

A federal appeals court threw out the 10-year prison sentence of a woman who rented her 9-year-old daughter to a pedophile more than 200 times, saying the punishment was too lenient.

While I find this whole situation rather disturbing, there is something slightly amusing here. The woman who remains nameless to protect her innocent victim - her child, was originally sentenced to 17 1/2 years. This was the minimum sentencing per the sentencing guidelines. When she appealed her case, the appeals court sent it back to the original judge if I read it correctly. They clarified for him that he might have sentenced a shorter time if he had known he was not bound by the guidelines. He then gave a sentence of 10 years which it appears they then threw out because it was too short. I think they disagreed mainly due to his reasoning which was at the least questionable if not completely wrong. In case you missed it which would understandable, the slightly amusing part was that the original sentence was appealed and the appeals court sent it back thinking he might have given a lesser sentence, which when given they threw out for not being long enough. Sorry if it wasn't that funny.

I still think the whole situation is extremely messed up. That's putting it nicely. What kind of mother is this? Not any mother by my reckoning. I am not a woman and therefore not a mother so I suppose I can't judge. I do know a few mothers, including my wife. I would be willing to bet a rather large sum that none of the mothers I know, my own or my wife would condone or even excuse this kind of behavior. I will have to wait for her to read this to see. I think this kid for their own protection should not be allowed anywhere near this mother or her associate. This man, if he can be called that, should be locked away from any kids as well. He is the prime example of the sex offenders that the registrations are meant for. I would hope that there is a siren and a letter going out to everyone anywhere near him when he moves into an area. I don't care if it infringes on his privacy. I am usually not in favor of such things as infringing on privacy. This is a notable exception. You voided your right to that level of privacy when you committed these acts on a nine year old sir. This is not to say that other acts on other kids were not also committed. Suffice it to say, you have earned any punishment that comes your way. I doubt very much that prison will be a safe haven for him. I sure hope not. I think the woman should definitely get at least an equal if not greater sentence to the man here. She is a poor excuse for a human, much less a mother. I guess I'm done venting for now. Sorry if I offended anyone. I hope you will understand.

While I thought I was done venting, my wife read this and spun me up a bit more. Keep in mind folks, she didn't even read the article. I read her the first sentence after the part I quoted and she almost became ill. She was kind enough to point out that this woman has forever changed the life of her child. This child, through no fault of her own, will never be a whole person. At the very best, she will be traumatized horribly for many, many years. At the worst, she could very well become even more sick and twisted than her mother. Just what we need. This woman deserves far more than the original sentence, I think it is quite reasonable for that to be the minimum. Those are good guidelines. They could be much higher and it would be fine with me. How about 200 years for the 200 times? Would that be fair? Not really. You see, the damage is done, no matter how much the woman suffers, it will not undo or 'right' the wrongs done to her child. Hope that helps a little.